Container with thermochromic indicator

ABSTRACT

A beverage container having at least one surface visible to a user of the beverage container and a pattern formed of a thermochromic material that provides information to the user of the beverage container. In an exemplary embodiment, the information provided to the user includes the amount of Calories that will be used by a typical human that drinks the entire quantity of the beverage in the container at its current temperature.

This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 12/928,724, filedon Dec. 16, 2010.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates generally to the field of beverage containers. Inparticular, the invention relates to beverage containers that usethermochromic indicators.

2. Description of Related Art

The prior art includes beverage containers and other objects that havelabels or tags that use color changing inks such as thermochromic inksas indicators to provide general information to the user about thetemperature of the beverage in the container. However, the prior art hasfailed to use such labels or tags to provide additional information tousers beyond the fact that the beverage in the container has reached atarget temperature.

The present invention presents a new use for thermochromic materials byproviding a simple, easy-to-use indicator informing the user of thehuman body energy consuming process commonly referred to as the calorieburning potential of the beverage in the container based on itstemperature.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A beverage container comprising at least one surface visible to a userof the container and a thermochromic material on the at least onesurface visible to the user, wherein the thermochromic materialindicates the approximate amount of energy that will be used by atypical human that drinks the beverage remaining in the container. Invarious exemplary embodiments, the beverage container is an aluminumcan, a cup or mug, a bottle, or a drink pouch. In various embodiments,the thermochromic material is made using a leuco dye or a liquid crystalmaterial, or any other suitable material.

A beverage container comprising at least one surface visible to a userof the beverage container, and a pattern formed of a thermochromicmaterial that provides information to the user of the beveragecontainer. In an exemplary embodiment, the pattern indicates theapproximate amount of energy that will be used by a typical human thatdrinks the beverage remaining in the container. In various exemplaryembodiments, the beverage container is an aluminum can, a cup or mug, abottle, or a drink pouch. In various embodiments, the thermochromicmaterial is made using a leuco dye or a liquid crystal material, or anyother suitable material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a side view of an exemplary calorieindicating beverage container.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a side view of an exemplary beveragecontainer with a thermochromic indicator.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a side view of an exemplary beveragecontainer with a thermochromic indicator at a first activationtemperature.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a side view of an exemplary beveragecontainer with a thermochromic indicator at a first second temperature.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a side view of an exemplary beveragecontainer with a thermochromic indicator at a third activationtemperature.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description is presented to enable any person skilled inthe art to make and use the invention. For purposes of explanation,specific nomenclature is set forth to provide a thorough understandingof the present invention. Descriptions of specific embodiments orapplications are provided only as examples. Various modifications to theembodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, andgeneral principles defined herein may be applied to other embodimentsand applications without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited tothe embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest possible scopeconsistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an exemplary embodiment of the inventionconsists of a beverage container 100 comprising a primary container 102that holds the beverage. The primary container 102 may be cylindricalsuch as standard beverage can or bottle, or may be any shape suitablefor holding a beverage. In an exemplary embodiment the primary container102 may be a beverage pouch or other soft-sided container.

On one or more sides of the primary container visible to the user, athermochromic material may be used in a pattern that providesinformation to the user beyond the fact that the beverage in thecontainer has reached a particular temperature or temperature threshold.Thermochromic materials are materials that incorporate a substance thatchanges color in response to changes in temperature. While reference isspecifically made herein to thermochromic materials, it will beunderstood that this term may refer to any material that provides avisual indicator of the current temperature of an object, such as by achange in color or other visual cue.

Thermochromic materials are currently largely created using eitherliquid crystals or dyes commonly referred to as leuco dyes. Liquidcrystal based materials can change color through a broad temperaturespectrum, with different colors indicating a range of differenttemperatures. Leuco dye based thermochromic materials typically haveless accurate temperature response and change to a single differentcolor when a particular temperature threshold is reached. Liquidcrystals and leuco dyes can be used in a wide variety of thermochromicmaterials including inks, paints, and papers. A variety of other lesscommonly used thermochromic substances can be used to make thermochromicmaterials for different applications, including zinc oxide, cuprousmercury iodide, mercury (II) iodide, nickel sulfate, and vanadium oxide.The present invention encompasses all such thermochromic materials, aswell as any such materials developed in the future.

In an exemplary embodiment, the thermochromic material is used to createa pattern 104 that indicates to the user how many Calories will beburned by the user's body if the remaining volume of the beverage isconsumed by the user at its current temperature. This caloricconsumption reflects the fact that the human body uses energy whenheating up liquids that are consumed at a temperature below the body'sown internal temperature.

It takes one calorie to raise the temperature of one gram of water onedegree Celsius. Water freezes at zero degrees Celsius and the averagehuman body maintains an internal temperature of approximately 37 degreesCelsius. There are 473.18 grams of water in 16 fluid ounces of water, soa typical human body will burn 17,508 calories raising the temperatureof a 16 fluid ounces of water from freezing to body temperature. This isapproximately 17.5 kilo-calories, the commonly referenced unit ofCalories used for nutritional purposes. Thus, a typical person thatconsumes eight 8-ounce glasses of ice water a day will burn 70 Caloriesper day heating up that water or other liquid.

The pattern 104 on the primary container 102 may be configured to showthe user how many Calories will be burned based on the temperature ofthe liquid and volume remaining in the container. In an exemplaryembodiment, a thermochromic material is used that activates at or near asingle specific temperature. Numbers 106 may be placed next to a seriesof level lines 108 on one or more sides of the primary container 102,the level lines and/or numbers being formed using the thermochromicmaterial. The numbers 106 reflect the number of Calories that would beburned by typical human that consumes the current or remaining volume ofliquid at the activation temperature. Referring to FIG. 1, for example,if the liquid is present up to the fifth level line 108 and is coldenough to activate the thermochromic material, a typical human will burntwenty (20) Calories if they consume the remaining liquid in the primarycontainer 102. In an exemplary embodiment, a thermochromic material canbe used in a single location such that activation informs the user ofthe calorie burning potential of consuming the beverage in the containerat that temperature.

Referring to FIGS. 3-5, in another exemplary embodiment, a thermochromicmaterial or an array of thermochromic materials may be used thatactivate at a variety of points across some spectrum of temperatures. Inone embodiment, such a material or materials may be used on a primarycontainer 102 in a pattern that indicates the number of Calories thatwill be burned by consuming the original volume of the beverage in theprimary container 102 across a range of temperatures. In one exemplaryembodiment, a series of points or areas 110 on the primary container canbe printed using thermochromic materials that activate at progressivelylower temperatures. Indicators such as numbers 112 can then be used toindicate the number of Calories that would be burned by a typical humanthat consumes the entire volume of liquid in the primary container atthe activation temperature for the associated point or area 110. In oneembodiment, such areas of thermochromic material can be printed on theside of a beverage container such as a soda can with the materials thatactivate at the highest temperature located near the bottom of thecontainer. Inks that activate at progressively lower temperatures can beused in each successive point or area 110 up the side of the container,such that the thermochromic material with the lowest activationtemperature is located near the top of the container.

As seen in FIG. 3-5, showing an exemplary beverage container at threeprogressively colder temperatures, as the beverage and container arecooled the various points or areas 110 of thermochromic materialactivate to indicate the number of Calories burned by consumption of theentire contents at that activation temperature. The activationtemperature range can be selected to provide useful information, andmight commonly cover a range from room temperature to near freezing formost commonly consumed beverages. Visually, such a pattern can be usedto create the appearance of a meter that indicates the calorie burningpotential of contents of the container at any temperature across aselected spectrum. It will be readily understood that the pattern ofpoints or areas could be varied such that the inks activate from the topof the container to the bottom, around the circumference, or in anyother suitable sequence, pattern, or arrangement. Thermochromic inksthat change from opaque to clear or clear to opaque could also be usedto reveal the calorie burning potential of the beverage beneath thethermochromic ink at a particular activation temperature.

In another exemplary embodiment, a thermochromic material may be usedthat activates at a variety of points across some spectrum oftemperatures. In one embodiment, such a material may be used on aprimary container in a pattern that indicates the calories that will beburned by consuming the remaining volume of the beverage in thecontainer across a range of temperatures. For example, if a particularlevel line is activated in the color blue reflecting a temperature at ornear zero Celsius, the blue number next to that level line will indicatethe calories a typical person would burn if they drank that volume ofliquid at zero Celsius. If the same level line is activated in the colorgreen, indicating a slightly warmer temperature such as ten (10) degreesCelsius, the green number next to that level line will indicate thecalories a typical person would burn if they drank that volume of liquidat that temperature. If the same level line is activated in the coloryellow, indicating an even warmer temperature such as twenty (20)degrees Celsius, the yellow number next to that level line will indicatethe calories a typical person would burn if they drank that volume ofliquid at that temperature.

In another exemplary embodiment, a thermochromic material may be used tocreate one or more numbers that appear on the container, such that thehighest number that has appeared or changed color indicates the numberof Calories that will be burned by drinking the liquid in the containerat its current temperature.

In another exemplary embodiment, a thermochromic material may be used tocreate a pattern that indicates the quantity of beverage still availablein the container at the indicated temperature or temperature threshold.For example, a thermochromic material may be used to create one or morenumbers that appear on the container, such that the highest number thathas appeared or changed color indicates the current amount of the liquidin the container. It will also be readily apparent that the variousembodiments disclosed herein can be combined and used together in a widerange of ways to provide additional and/or different information to theuser, such as how many Calories would be burned at a certain temperatureand a certain fluid level, etc.

1. A beverage container comprising: at least one surface visible to auser of the container; and one or more thermochromic materials on the atleast one surface visible to the user, wherein the one or morethermochromic materials indicate the approximate number of calories thatwill be burned by a typical human that drinks the entire contents of thebeverage container at its current temperature.
 2. The beverage containerof claim 1, wherein said beverage container is an aluminum can.
 3. Thebeverage container of claim 1, wherein said beverage container is a cupor mug.
 4. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein said beveragecontainer is a bottle.
 5. The beverage container of claim 1, whereinsaid beverage container is a drink pouch.
 6. The beverage container ofclaim 1, wherein said one or more thermochromic materials include atleast one thermochromic material made using a leuco dye.
 7. The beveragecontainer of claim 1, wherein said one or more thermochromic materialsinclude at least one thermochromic material made using a liquid crystalmaterial.
 8. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein the one or morethermochromic materials activate at a range of different temperatures.9. The beverage container of claim 8, wherein the one or morethermochromic materials are arranged vertically on the beveragecontainer such that they activate from bottom to top as the temperatureof the beverage container decreases.
 10. The beverage container of claim8, wherein the one or more thermochromic materials are arrangedvertically on the beverage container such that they activate from bottomto top as the temperature of the beverage container decreases.
 11. Thebeverage container of claim 8, wherein the one or more thermochromicmaterials activate at temperatures ranging from room temperature to nearfreezing.